It is often said that children are our future. Every advocate and counselor know it is far easier to build strong children today than it is to fix broken adults tomorrow. To that end, staff at The Nest domestic violence shelter have been writing a full-fledged, in-house children’s program called HEALing Children to incorporate best practices and expand the children services that are offered.
The often-cited Adverse Childhood Effects (ACE) study, which measured the effects of childhood exposure to trauma, reveals that a difficult and stressful childhood can eventually manifest as a life time of troubles. Children who are raised in homes where they are victims of, or witnesses to, violence often become adults with a host of physical health problems ranging from heart, lung and liver disease, stroke, diabetes, addiction and hypertension. Because of their exposure to violence at a young age, these children also face an elevated rate of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicidal ideation. In the end, on average these children die a full 20 years earlier than their peers who do not come from such homes.
HEAL & The Nest are intervening.
Tonna Pate is a Licensed Psychologist who moved to Ruidoso last year. She was invited to a meeting with HEAL Executive Director Coleen Widell and Shelter Manager Terry Thompson to discuss the state of the children’s services at The Nest and within the larger community.
“Coleen & Terry talked with me about their ideas and plans. They explained the current situation of limited external resources for the kids at the shelter,” Pate said. “I have a background in research and grant writing, as well as in a shelter, so I am helping as much as I can to get grant funding in place.”
“Dr. Pate’s partnership is one of several in our grant proposal,” said Widell, “but it is truly the foundation. We have always had therapeutic services for our families but the inclusion of a child psychologist takes it to a higher level for our kids. Based on what the ACE study tells us, the sooner we start providing this kind of intervention with Dr. Pate, the better.”
Pate will provide counseling services to the children residing in The Nest. “I have extensive experience with children and adolescents – and with parents, for that matter – with abusive backgrounds,” Pate said. “Traumatic events change how the brain works and develops. It’s so important to help them now. We need to focus on preventing the damage from being done, rather than reacting later. We wait until someone has a huge problem, medicate them and put them through intensive therapy. We must start stepping in as soon as we know a child doesn’t have a stable home environment. We have to protect our children.”
The HEALing Children program will be one of few services in Lincoln County specifically meant to help children heal before long-term and permanent damage is done.
Pictured is Dr. Tonna Pate, licensed psychologist in Ruidoso working with the HEALing Children program at The Nest.
